"what''s the matter? things not going your way?"

the clone taunted with a sneering expression as the two continued to exchange blows with alex taking hits one after the other.

what was more, his mana was running out and he continuously had to keep his focus to not reopen the wound he patched up.

"shut up!"

alex retorted in a loud frustrated voice, his teeth gnashing against each other.

"kekeke... that''s unlike you, alexander. your aloof expression is wearing off and your emotions are leaking through. is this the same alex i know?"

every word the clone uttered added to his already frustrated feelings. his state of mind was deteriorating as he found no way to defeat the clone.

his tricks? it knew them.

his spear techniques? even better.

what did he have that the clone didn''t?

"you go prancing around telling everyone how you''re different. but i say otherwise!"

suddenly the clone''s expression changed into that of anger as it suddenly delivered a powerful punch to alex''s face when he saw an opening and drew new blood.

their high-speed fight came to a standstill at that moment.

"ugh!"

and before he could even recover from the blow, the clone delivered another to his gut, undoing his efforts at stopping the bleeding and his focus entirely.

alex''s spear fell to the ground as he stumbled back from the consecutive blows, groaning from the sudden pain that assaulted his senses. then the circulating mana in his system came to an abrupt stop.

following suit, the clone dropped its weapon as well and resulted to a physical beating.

"you''re nothing but a fraud, alex! you''re not special!"

*slap!*

a slap came in this time as alex''s head turned to the side in shock and in pain. the slap awakened him from his disoriented senses.

still...

*bam!*

the beating continued as he stepped back every time a blow came in.

"did you really think no one notices the way you carry yourself? the pride hidden in those eyes of yours?!"

his words dug deep into alex''s mind as his behaviour for the past year flashed before his eyes. every word invoked a particular scene where he interacted with the people around him.

once he stood up with his hand on his stomach to pause the bleeding, he continued.

"you''re not me, clone. you never were.

"you have my face and my skills. of course, you know a bit about me. but that was it..."

then, alex stepped forward and the clone stepped back. he flashed a grin that made his face hurt, yet he ignored it.

"all this time, i''ve been trying to defeat you, but that was not what this floor was meant for."

"what are you trying to say?"

the clone questioned with a frown, not liking where this was going.

watching the behaviour of the clone as it stepped back, he became more certain of his theory.

"trying to defeat you was never going to be possible. in fact, this entire fight was a farce to begin with!

"you''re not a clone at all, just a mirror image of myself! the more i tried to kill you, the harder you got on me. it was like throwing back everything i threw at you."

his eyes then looked at the empty space and the large rock they stood on as he released another chuckle.

"when i grew frustrated, you got harsher, when i started to question myself, you pushed."

releasing a sigh to himself, he recalled his spear as it swooshed through the air and arrived before him.

"you''ve shown me some weaknesses i need to work on, and for that, thank you."

he said in all sincerity.

"but this farce is over."

"the only way to stop looking at your own reflection in the mirror..."

he began and then turned the tip of his spear at his heart.

enjoy new tales from empire

the clone narrowed its eyes at alex''s action, yet instead of doing anything, the clone looked on. however, alex could swear it saw a hint of pride in its eyes. but it didn''t matter anymore.

"...is to walk away or destroy the mirror entirely.

"and in this case, i am the mirror."

with those words, alex plunged the spear into his heart with no hesitation whatsoever.

he was absolutely certain of his words...

and he was right.